HAVING done a little internet research it is clear to me there is absolutely no need to waste public money on building an incinerator.

It is possible to build facilities for mechanical and biological processing of waste with no incineration. This is being done by Lancashire County Council through its waste strategy and its current PFI contract with Global Renewables.

Details of the process can be found on Global Renewables' website and it has a system already operating in Sydney. This option would reduce the need for landfill to well within Whitehall targets, take a considerable and genuine step towards a sustainable waste policy, and be cheaper than an incinerator option.

Planning consents for the facilities are likely to be considerably easier to obtain than for an incinerator, and the measure is likely to gain a wide measure of support rather than the opposition which an incinerator will certainly generate. This option removes any health risk associated with burning plastics and other dioxin-producing waste. Cleaner, greener, cheaper.

Nick Whittingham,

Windmill Rise,

Holgate, York.

Updated: 12:02 Tuesday, January 24, 2006